aspuru-list December 2013

aspuru-list@lists.fas.harvard.edu

32 participants
60 discussions

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [qip] Friday the 13th

by Edward Farhi

Hi Quanta We will meet tomorrow at 11:00 in our usual spot. Jose Latorre will be visiting. At 1:30 we will have a talk by Dirk Englund. See you there! Eddie ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Edward Farhi Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics Director Center for Theoretical Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology 6-300 Cambridge MA 02139 617 253 4871 ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: _______________________________________________ qip mailing list qip(a)mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/qip

10 years, 4 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Post-doc opportunity in Lisbon

by Guerreschi, Gian

FYI > Post-doctoral Fellowships > > The Physics of Information Group, at Instituto de Telecomunicacoes (in Lisbon, Portugal), is seeking to hire two Post-doctoral Fellows to develop research in one of the following areas: quantum simulation, quantum information theory, quantum thermodynamics or quantum effects in biology. > > The candidates are expected to have a doctoral degree and research experience in one of the above areas (or in general in: open quantum systems, quantum optics, condensed matter physics, solid state/graphene physics, biophysics, or information processing in biological systems). > > Application timing > > Applications should be submitted by 6 January 2014, but earlier applications are welcome. The position is available for immediate start, and will remain open if adequate candidates are not identified. > > Application procedure > > The application is constituted by the following documents: > > 1. curriculum vitae of the applicant; > 2. statement of research interests, including a short description of the candidate's scientific background, motivation and skills; > 3. two letters of recommendation (in alternative, the contact information of two persons able to provide references is also accepted). > > The application should be sent by e-mail, following the instructions below (where "Surname" refers to the surname of the candidate): > - the documents above should be sent in a single PDF file, named "BPD Surname" (recommendation letters may be sent separately, but should still follow the two steps below); > - the e-mail subject should be "BPD Surname"; > - the e-mail should be sent to: phys-info-jobs (at) lx.it.pt<http://lx.it.pt> > > Applications that are incomplete or do not comply with the above instructions may not be evaluated. > > Short-listed applicants may be invited for one or several interviews following the submission of their application. > > Further information > > The Physics of Information Group promotes research and advanced training in the physics of information in physical, chemical and biological systems. It develops theory work and is involved in a number of experimental collaborations and international projects. It also coordinates the new Doctoral Programme in the Physics and Mathematics of Information, at the University of Lisbon. > > The group is part of Instituto de Telecomunicações (IT), a national research lab in Lisbon, Portugal, rated Excellent in its last international assessment. > > The group is located in the campus of Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, the School of Science and Engineering of the University of Lisbon), in Lisbon, Portugal. >

10 years, 4 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [theochem-announce] John Tully theoretical chemistry seminar TODAY @ 4 PM

by Michael Mavros

Hi all, John Tully of Yale, developer of the famous surface hopping method used in *ab initio* molecular dynamics simulations, will be giving today's theoretical chemistry seminar. The seminar will be held in *4-163 from 4-6 PM* with a short break between the two halves of the talk. The title and abstract of the talk are below. Title: *Quantum-Classical Dynamics: Issues and Applications* Abstract: Conventional Molecular Dynamics (MD) rests on two fundamental assumptions: 1. Nuclear motion evolves by classical mechanics. 2. The forces on the nuclei derive from a single electronic potential energy surface (the Born-Oppenheimer Approximation). There are hosts of chemical processes for which one or both of these assumptions are not adequate. Nuclear motion can exhibit pronounced quantum mechanical effects associated with tunneling, zero-point motion and quantized energy levels. Transitions among multiple electronic states can play a dominant role in processes such as nonradiative transitions, electron transfer, photochemistry, and chemistry at semiconductor and metal surfaces. Mixed quantum-classical dynamics (MQCD) has been an at least partially successful strategy for introducing quantum effects into molecular dynamics simulations, as well as providing a procedure to treat open systems. A crucial concern in MQCD is feedback between the classical and quantum motions. The time-dependent motion of the classical nuclei induces transitions among quantum states. Quantum mechanical transitions, in turn, alter the forces that govern the motion of the classical particles. Proper treatment of this “quantum back reaction” has been a subject of controversy for more than 40 years. Aspects of this issue will be examined, both at a fundamental level and by example. Among the applications presented are the quantum dynamics of proton transfer in solution and inelastic scattering of molecules from metal surfaces. Because metal surfaces exhibit a continuum of infinitesimally spaced conduction electron levels, the latter is an extreme example of anticipated inadequacy of the Born-Oppenheimer Approximation. -- Michael Mavros Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology _______________________________________________ theochem-announce mailing list theochem-announce(a)mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/theochem-announce

10 years, 4 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] [qip] lunch tomorrow

by aram harrow

Dear quanta, Sorry for the late notice, but I propose that people who are around and free meet up tomorrow at 11:50 in the CTP to get lunch, and meet back in CTP around 12:10 (for those who bring food from home). aram _______________________________________________ qip mailing list qip(a)mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/qip

10 years, 4 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] ITAMP topical lunch discussion: Thursday December 12 @ 12:00

by tony.lee＠cfa.harvard.edu

ITAMP Topical Lunch Discussion Date: Thursday, December 12 Time: 12:00-1:30 As always pizza will be served. Location: B-106 @ Center for Astrophysics (60 Garden Street) Directions: after entering the lobby of the CfA, turn right to enter the hallway of the B building. In the hallway, turn right again, and B-106 is there. Speaker: Yuki Sato (Rowland Institute, Harvard) Title: Superfluid helium quantum interference devices Abstract: Matter wave interferometers have the potential to reveal some of the most fascinating phenomena of the quantum world. After an introduction on superfluid helium and superfluid Josephson junctions, I will describe how macroscopic quantum-mechanical properties of such systems can be leveraged to construct interference devices to explore both fundamental and applied physics. I will highlight some interferometry results including the utilization of a superfluid interferometer as an absolute rotation sensor.

10 years, 4 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] AAG Holiday Party Reminder

by Marlon Cummings

January 19, 2013 Division Room 2:00 - 4:30PM --------------- Marlon G. Cummings Lab Manager, Aspuru-Guzik Group Mallinckrodt M112 Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Harvard University 12 Oxford Street Cambridge, MA 02138 617-496-9964 617-496-9411 (fax) http://aspuru.chem.harvard.edu/

10 years, 4 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Interesting webinar FYI

by Alan Aspuru-Guzik

Dear group members, a Q-Chem webinar about the latest features of the code given by my former advisor Martin Head-Gordon is tomorrow. Check it out! http://ow.ly/rDqJL Alán Aspuru-Guzik | Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Harvard University | 12 Oxford Street, Room M113 | Cambridge, MA 02138 (617)-384-8188 | http://aspuru.chem.harvard.edu | http://about.me/aspuru

10 years, 4 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] John Tully today at 10:30-noon

by Ryan Babbush

Hey Everyone, This is a reminder that today from 10:30am until noon we'll be having an open-ended discussion with John Tully (starting in the Division Room but moving to outside of Alan's office once they start setting up the faculty meeting). All group members are encouraged to come. Hope to see you there. Ryan P.S. If you're coming to lunch you better come! -- Ryan Babbush | PhD Student in Physics (949) 331-3943 | babbush(a)fas.harvard.edu Harvard University | Aspuru-Guzik Group 12 Oxford Street | Cambridge, MA 02138

10 years, 4 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Fwd: Thu 12/12 5pm: Career talk and Q&A on startups, industrial labs, machine intelligence, and stochastic computation

by Martin Blood-Forsythe

This career talk with Ben Vigoda from Analog Devices Lyric Labs hosted by the Physics Department might be of interest to some members of the group. Best wishes, -Martin ---------- Forwarded message ---------- *Physics Department Career Event: Talk and Open Round-Table Q&A Session* *Title:* Startups, Industrial Labs, and Transforming Machine Intelligence through the Physics of Stochastic Computation *Speaker:* Ben Vigoda, director of Analog Devices Corporate Labs and entrepreneur *Location and Time:* Jefferson 250, Thursday, Dec. 12, 5:00pm-6:00pm All undergrads, grad students, post-docs, and others from physics, engineering, astronomy (and beyond) are welcome. *Please RSVP at:* https://harvard.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bKk31tij5FB3Ta5 The Harvard Physics Department hosts Ben Vigoda, director of Analog Devices Corporate Labs and entrepreneur, for a career talk and open round-table question-and-answer session for those with an interest in startups and/or industrial research. The types of career options that will be discussed include opportunities at the cutting edge of statistical machine learning techniques and applications, probabilistic programming languages, data analytics and modeling, novel compiler and processor architectures, and cloud-based high-performance computing platforms. *What We Do:* At our industrial labs we create startups. Most of these startups are internal new businesses for Analog Devices, Inc. and at least one currently is an external startup. Much of our research and development revolves around developing a new approach to computing based on Bayesian inference, and includes innovation in statistical machine learning, probabilistic programming languages, compilers, applications, novel integrated circuit approaches, and cloud computing platforms. Our first probability processor hardware demonstrates orders of magnitude wins on machine learning and statistical inference benchmarks. We are developing open-source probability programming languages that help enable rapid prototyping and development of statistical machine learning applications. We will demonstrate some applications that we are building on top of the probability processing stack. *Bio:* Ben Vigoda is the director of Analog Devices Lyric Labs, a corporate research labs located in Kendall Square, Cambridge that grew from the acquisition by Analog Devices of Lyric Semiconductor, Inc. As CEO, Vigoda raised over $25M in venture capital funding and government research contracts while also contributing to the company's technology development. Lyric was selected as one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies by Technology Review in 2010. The company's work on probability processors has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Wired Magazine, Scientific American, EE Times and was #1 on slashdot. Vigoda developed the technical foundations for Lyric during his PhD work with Prof. Neil Gershenfeld at the Center for Bits and Atoms in the MIT Media Lab, and subsequently while a Research Scientist at Mitsubishi Research Labs. While a PhD student, he learned a lot about how to create a startup as part of the process of winning the MIT 50k Entrepreneurship Competition and Harvard New Venture Competition. He earned his undergraduate degree in physics from Swarthmore College and has worked at the Santa Fe Institute on alternative models of computation and at Hewlett Packard Labs, where he helped transfer academic research projects to product divisions, including a toner level sensor that made its way into every HP Laserjet printer. He has also worked on some other interesting projects, including programming the automated design of DNA-based nano-tile structures, building a virtual juggling system that toured for years with the Flying Karamazov Brothers, and co-founding Design That Matters, a not-for-profit that collaborates with universities and volunteer engineers to design new products and services for the poor in developing countries. -- *Gamelan Labs, Inc. in Kendall Square* Want to work with MIT and Harvard physics PhDs and get in on the ground floor of a growing science-based startup in Kendall Square? Gamelan Labs is a new startup company initially funded by several million dollars in DARPA contracts. We are developing a new approach to data analytics based on probabilistic programming languages (PPL) http://radar.oreilly.com/2013/04/probabilistic-programming.html. Under the hood, probabilistic programs are solved by a range of inference algorithms to estimate the posterior distribution over the variables in a model. Understanding these systems requires mathematical sophistication and physical intuition, and a background in physics helps a lot. We also have to get the software to work at large scale. Obviously it's going to help if you think that activities like programming and playing with Amazon EC2 are fun. We hire people who are smart and nice and like to hack.

10 years, 4 months

[Aspuru-Guzik group list] Special group meeting friday - Leslie Upton

by Stéphanie Valleau

Hi everyone, We have a special seminar coming up on Friday. Details are copied below. Leslie will be visiting us for the entire day. I am attaching her schedule for those of you who signed up for meetings with her / lunch. Best, Stephanie ============================ *SPECIAL GROUP MEETING* *When* - Friday dec 13th from 2-3pm *Where* - Cabot Division room *Quantum Entanglement and Nonlinear Spectroscopy: Non-classical Light Matter Interactions in Organic Molecules* Leslie Upton, University of Michigan Quantum entanglement is most commonly known to be utilized in applications for quantum information science, for example quantum computing and quantum cryptography. Yet, very little work has been done studying and characterizing the non-classical light matter interactions in large, organic molecules. The use of entangled photons for multi-photon spectroscopy is a novel technique with several potential applications in entangled two-photon excited fluorescence microscopy, selective two-photon spectroscopy, quantum imaging and remote sensing. In this work, we demonstrate that with the use of entangled photons one can study ETPA scaling properties for large conjugated organic molecules and study molecules with varying absorption properties. This can be done with ten orders of magnitude less photons than classical TPA measurements. Selective absorption of entangled photons is also observed in several organic molecules. A theoretical model is provided to explain this mechanism of non-classical absorption. Through these experiments and theoretical calculations, it is found that while some molecules may have strong classical multi-photon absorption, due to their excitation pathways; these same excitation pathways may hinder the entangled photon absorption process. These entangled photon absorption results provide the first steps in realizing and demonstrating the viability of selective entangled two-photon spectroscopy.

10 years, 4 months

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aspuru-list December 2013